Thanks Mom!

September 14, 2010

Like most children, I was greatly influenced by my parents. I often mimicked the way they walked and talked. I trusted that the things that were important to them about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should also be important to me. It was when I turned twelve that I truly began to think that my parents weren’t tall superhumans put on this earth only to take care of and love me. Suddenly my small, safe and carefree world was turned upside down. What humans in their right minds would ever come up with and apply the concept of chores?! Surely, it was a punishment for something that I didn’t remember doing or for something that I had not yet done.

I was never given a reason, only that I was old enough to finally handle more responsibility. I groveled and pouted over things such as hand washing the dishes, taking out the garbage and cleaning up my bedroom. With school and other activities, chores were an unwanted distraction. They seemed like a major waste a time; things that I thought my mother could have been doing. I often wondered if my mother assigned the chores because she didn’t feel like doing them or if she assigned them to show me some obscure lesson in life.

It wasn’t until I was well into my twenties when I realized, and ultimately became grateful for, her foresight and insistence. Through chores, I was taught discipline and responsibility. I learned that whatever her reasons were for having me do chores, clearly I was the beneficiary. Discipline and responsibility have helped shape me into the person that I am today.